Good Enough?
by ConcernedReader830
Summary: Goose's death doesn't just have an affect on Maverick. It makes Iceman think about someone in his personal life who he never wants to have to go pick up his stuff like Goose's widow did. Even though if he had to pick someone to do it, he'd pick her.


**I do not own _Top Gun._**

Good Enough?

* * *

"What are you thinking about?" Sam asked him in the dark of her room. He'd have to get up in an hour or so and get back to base so he wouldn't be late for training- God knows how much trouble he'd get in at this stage of the game for that. Iceman couldn't afford to get any points docked, not with Maverick mere points behind him for that trophy, with there still a chance that he could catch him. Even as tempting as a morning with her sounded right now.

"It's nothing," He blew it off. They hadn't talked about it, not once over the course of their relationship. There's no way on Earth that Sam would _possibly_ agree to this. It had only been eight weeks, but God knows he loved her with every bone in his body. And why? Because of the damn accident, that suddenly had Iceman, who had been _named_ for his ability to keep cool in bad situations, scrambling to get his shit together. But then, this wasn't like anything he'd encountered up in the atmosphere.

"It is not nothing," Sam rolled her grey eyes, pushing her lean body on top of him, forearm pressing into the pillow beside his head. "Tom, tell me." His girlfriend asked with pleading eyes.

Fondly, Tom tucked a strand of her long red hair behind an ear. That was what he loved about Samantha. In a world where everyone around him called him Iceman or just simply Ice, he was still her Tom. Like he had been from the very beginning, when they'd met, back in middle school. "One of the Navigators was killed this week," He told her. "Call sign Goose. He flew with Maverick. We were practicing dogfighting, and both of us were on pursuit. I missed my window to fire, I got out of the way. And seconds later, one of their engines failed. Long story short, they got into a spin there was no recovering from. When they ejected, Goose hit the windshield, and it broke his neck."

"My God," She whispered. "Was Maverick okay?" The two had been seeing each other like this nearly the entirety of his training at Top Gun- Samantha was familiar with the different Pilots and Navigators there, if only from his talking to her about them.

"Yeah, he didn't get a scratch on him," Iceman answered, watching her with a far off look in his blue eyes. "They determined it wasn't his fault. But he's not fine. It's going to take a while for that. It's not like getting back on your bike after you fall off, Sam. Goose dies and Maverick holds himself responsible. It'll be a while before he can get his head back in the game.

"Understandable," She nodded from her spot on top of him. Sam folded her arms on his chest and rested her head on them, giving him an almost coy look. "So why are you thinking about it?"

"The engine failure had to do with air getting in the engine. My understanding is that they hit the wrong spot, wrong time. A few seconds more and for all I know, that could've been me." The Aviator told her. "If we'd been assigned a different jet a few weeks ago, it would've." He stated coolly. Tom tightened his arms around her waist.

"Tom, it's dangerous even going up there," Sam rolled her eyes. "This has happened before, you've seen it. It won't be the last time. What's so different?" She whispered, tracing a delicate finger over his cheekbone, watching him with a sort of interest and wonder that only she seemed capable of looking at him with. Her fingers were cool and smooth against his skin, like his namesake, Ice.

"What happens to us once I graduate?" Tom questioned, his only answer. Iceman had been thinking about this for a solid week before the accident, always afraid to say anything about it to her. But the accident had solidified his decision in Ice's mind. There were far too many uncertainties in life, and this was not one he was willing to chance.

"Tom," She admonished him, thinking that that was not an answer and he was dodging the question, but that couldn't be any further from the truth in this case.

"This is part of it, for me. What happens?"

Sam shrugged, "I don't know," Laying her head against his shoulder. His hand ran up and down her back and shoulders, over smooth skin and every fine curve of her body, which he knew as intimately as anything he'd seen on his plane, and then some. "We never really discussed it. I thought you didn't want to talk about getting serious." She confided, lowering her voice, though Tom wasn't honestly sure why. It wasn't like there was anyone else around. It wasn't like any of his buddies would come bursting into his quarters at 2:00 a.m. for a prank as they had been known to do. At least, they had before he left for Top Gun. Most everyone there took this far too seriously to pull any big stunt like that. The stakes were too high to risk getting thrown out for a good laugh.

"I've never been anything but serious about you, Samantha," He answered. They had known each other since junior high, when he'd moved to her school. Shortly after was when all the affectionate teasing and pranks on her began, because even back then he'd been crazy about her, though he would never admit it to anyone else, and when boys liked girls, among the many things they did in that situation, pranks and teasing were one of them.

She knew, of course. Hadn't figured it out till 8th grade, but Sam knew. And he's never had the balls to ask her out, so they never dated, though he'd kind of suspected she liked him as well. Tom had almost forgotten about her until she'd shown up in that bar after day one of Top Gun. She had been out with friends. Sam lived in the area, working in admissions in a nearby college.

Sam and him got to talking, and soon it wasn't just that. After so many years of feelings that had never been voiced, seeing each other again brought them all back to the surface, and after enough alcohol had entered the system, they ended up confessing that they'd liked one another- a lot. And then they ended up kissing against the wall of hallway just outside the ladies room. Before either of them seemed very aware of it, they were back in her room, stark naked laying on the bed in the aftermath of some admittedly fantastic sex.

 _Iceman released a small sigh as he put the last of this things in his locker. Just him and Maverick, now. He supposed he ought to offer condolences. Hell, this had happened to him before, or something like it. His first partner had nearly been killed in a similar scene that Ice couldn't recover from, Just like Maverick. That had made him resolve to never make a mistake up in the air, to never be in the position where he was responsible for another man's death._

 _Only that was before Samantha. Now, when he looked at her, all he could see was Goose's widow, and small son, come to pick up his things. How he would hate for it to be her in that position. But he didn't want anybody else doing it, either. "Mitchell," He managed to get out, turning to face the fellow Aviator. He looked into the air. **What are you doing, Tom?** A voice in the back of his head said. **He doesn't want your condolences right now.**_

 _Maverick didn't acknowledge him, in fact, He didn't even move. "_ _I'm sorry about Goose." Iceman told him, not a sound coming from Mitchell. "Everybody liked him," He said, the best he could think of to console him right then, stupid as it was._

 _He gave a heavy sigh. Oh, He was going to have to ask her. This settled it. There'd be no way to get the widow out of his head of he didn't. Not now. With an air of finality, He looked back at Maverick, and gave one last, "I'm sorry," Before turning and walking out of the locker room._

"Goose left behind a wife and a two or three year old son," Tom started. "And as much as I don't want that to be you, if something ever happened to me, I don't want it to be anybody else." He explained. Sam picked her head up to better look at him, sensing a great deal of importance in what was coming. "If I got hurt, I would want you to be the first one to know. I want you coming to pick up my stuff, and I don't want none of my family telling you what happened to me, or not bothering to send you a funeral invite because you were just a girlfriend they never knew existed."

"What are you asking me?" She whispered.

"I love you, Sam," He told her. "Before I graduate, or before I get stationed somewhere, or something like that, I think we should head down to the courthouse and get married."

"What?" She gasped, a sort of confusion in her eyes, as if she couldn't comprehend what he was asking for her to do. He barely understood it himself, but Tom knew that with her, it would never be wrong. He wanted to wake up to her as often as he could, being in the military. He wanted her to be there when he came home. Wherever home was.

"I want you in my life, Sam," Ice told her, hands resting gently on the bare skin of her back. "For the rest of my life. And even when I'm gone, I want to know that you'll be fine. This is the only guaranteed way for that." The Aviator explained. "I know it's not the perfect wedding that little girls think of when they're kids, but if you'll have me, I will do my best to make you as happy as I am when I'm with you. What do you say?"

"Shut up," Sam giggled. "It's perfect. I can't promise you anything easy." Sam laughed, leaning in closer, face an inch away, breath tickling Tom's face. "I'm not going to be one of those usual military wives," She smiled, shaking her head.

"No, I didn't ask you to be," He answered, cracking a grin. "You're going to be the one that goes to work, and can't cook to save a life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I want you, Sam. Always have. Always will."

"Promise?"

"On my wings, and my life, and my heart." He answered. Samantha grinned. "Is that a yes?"

"Of course it's a yes, you moron!" She laughed. "We're going to get married, and I am going to love you the rest of my life. Is that good enough for you, Tom?"

"You're my girl, Sam," He smiled, leaning up for a kiss. "That will _always_ be good enough."

* * *

It hadn't been the easiest, but they'd made it, Iceman thought to himself. Nearly thirty years had passed since that day when he'd asked Sam to marry him, practically out of nowhere. He didn't even have a ring at the the time, and they'd had nearly no money for a house together. Ice didn't get stationed all over the world, fortunately, which made life easier for everyone. Tom Kazansky had chosen to remain at Top Gun with as an Instructor, his current friend Pete Mitchell right there with him.

The wedding hadn't been much. Nearly none of their family had been able to make it to it, and it hadn't exactly been before they graduated. Just Tom's Cousin Mark and a few Aunts and Uncles of Sam's. Not enough time to work out the particulars. But as soon as he'd gotten back from the crisis situation Sam had been waiting with an old white dress that only came down to her knees that she'd had for years. Tom put on the only tux he had, and since Slider had gone to visit family with his time off, Maverick had been his best man. And it had been perfect.

To appease Sam's and his family, there had been a vow renewal ceremony a few months later, with a reception, which is really what everyone had wanted in the first place. But Samantha put on her wedding dress that had never been intended for a wedding, and he wore that tux, and even though everyone knew they were already married, everyone there treated it no different than any other wedding.

It was barely a year after they'd been married when Sam found out she was pregnant, and approximately nine months later, Thomas David Kazansky Jr. had been born, screaming into the world, immediately loved by his Parents. He inherited his Mother's spectacular grey eyes, but as he grew older, came to look every inch like his Father, even joining the Naval Aviators, too.

A little less than three years later, his girls had graced their home. Twins, Emma and Jordan, with their mother's red hair and disposition. But they'd gotten his ice cool nerves, along with Tom's height, and blue eyes. Emma became a Lawyer, and Jordan went on to be a fairly successful Artist.

Every once in a while, throughout the years, Samantha would pause and give him an odd look, asking, "Good enough?" In reference to the conversation they'd had the night he'd proposed.

And every time, He replied with a smile and a gentle kiss, "Always."

* * *

 **This is just a one shot. Not planning to do more, just had an idea that came to me, about Iceman, and if he'd had a girlfriend during the events of the movie, how Goose's death might've made him think. And in the movie, in the scene where Iceman offers condolences, to me it almost seemed like he had a little bit of personal experience with things like that, can and do happen in jets. This is an exception to my normal rules about third person, because I didn't feel like trying to put myself in Iceman's head. I hope you guys liked this.**


End file.
